In imaging devices such as digital cameras, a technique of applying copyright information to captured image data has been known. In this technique, a photographer's name, a photographer's handwritten signature, a photographer's ID, and the like are given to the captured image data as copyright information, and recorded on a recording medium.
Social networking services (SNS) and photo sharing websites are currently gaining a growing number of users to connect with other users all over the world. For example, a server providing SNS causes posting information from an account followed by a user to be displayed on a web site of another user provided by the server. In other words, by following other people's accounts, a user causes posting information published by the followed accounts to be displayed on his/her web site.
The embodiments of the invention described herein solve a need in the art for protecting personal information or copyrighted works transmitted to a server, such as a SNS.